Searches After Gravitational-waves Using ARizona Observatories (SAGUARO): System Overview and First Results from Advanced LIGO/Virgo’s Third Observing Run. (arXiv:1906.06345v1 [astro-ph.HE])

Searches After Gravitational-waves Using ARizona Observatories (SAGUARO): System Overview and First Results from Advanced LIGO/Virgo’s Third Observing Run. (arXiv:1906.06345v1 [astro-ph.HE])
<a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Lundquist_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. J. Lundquist</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Paterson_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">K. Paterson</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Fong_W/0/1/0/all/0/1">W. Fong</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Sand_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. J. Sand</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Andrews_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. E. Andrews</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Shivaei_I/0/1/0/all/0/1">I. Shivaei</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Daly_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">P. N. Daly</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Valenti_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Valenti</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Yang_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Yang</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Christensen_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">E. Christensen</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gibbs_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. R. Gibbs</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Shelly_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">F. Shelly</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Wyatt_S/0/1/0/all/0/1">S. Wyatt</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kuhn_O/0/1/0/all/0/1">O. Kuhn</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Amaro_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">R. C. Amaro</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Arcavi_I/0/1/0/all/0/1">I. Arcavi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Behroozi_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">P. Behroozi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Butler_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">N. Butler</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Chomiuk_L/0/1/0/all/0/1">L. Chomiuk</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Corsi_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. Corsi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Drout_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. R. Drout</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Fan_X/0/1/0/all/0/1">X. Fan</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Foley_R/0/1/0/all/0/1">R. J. Foley</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Gabor_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">P. Gabor</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Green_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">E. M. Green</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Grier_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">C. J. Grier</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Guzman_F/0/1/0/all/0/1">F. Guzman</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Hamden_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">E. Hamden</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Howell_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. A. Howell</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Jannuzi_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">B. T. Jannuzi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Kelly_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">P. Kelly</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Milne_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">P. Milne</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Moe_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. Moe</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Nugent_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. Nugent</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Olszewski_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">E. Olszewski</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Palazzi_E/0/1/0/all/0/1">E. Palazzi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Paschalidis_V/0/1/0/all/0/1">V. Paschalidis</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Psaltis_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. Psaltis</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Reichart_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. Reichart</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Rest_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. Rest</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Rossi_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. Rossi</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Schroeder_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">G. Schroeder</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Smith_P/0/1/0/all/0/1">P. S. Smith</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Smith_N/0/1/0/all/0/1">N. Smith</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Spekkens_K/0/1/0/all/0/1">K. Spekkens</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Strader_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. Strader</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Stark_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. P. Stark</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Trilling_D/0/1/0/all/0/1">D. Trilling</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Veillet_C/0/1/0/all/0/1">C. Veillet</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Wagner_M/0/1/0/all/0/1">M. Wagner</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Weiner_B/0/1/0/all/0/1">B. Weiner</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Wheeler_J/0/1/0/all/0/1">J. C. Wheeler</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Williams_G/0/1/0/all/0/1">G. G. Williams</a>, <a href="http://arxiv.org/find/astro-ph/1/au:+Zabludoff_A/0/1/0/all/0/1">A. Zabludoff</a>

We present Searches After Gravitational-waves Using ARizona Observatories
(SAGUARO), a comprehensive effort dedicated to the discovery and
characterization of optical counterparts to gravitational wave (GW) events.
SAGUARO utilizes ground-based facilities ranging from 1.5m to 10m in diameter,
located primarily in the Northern Hemisphere. We provide an overview of
SAGUARO’s telescopic resources, pipeline for transient detection, and database
for candidate visualization. We describe SAGUARO’s discovery component, which
utilizes the $5$~deg$^2$ field-of-view optical imager on the Mt. Lemmon 1.5m
telescope, reaching limits of $approx 21.3$~AB mag while rapidly tiling large
areas. We also describe the follow-up component of SAGUARO, used for rapid
vetting and monitoring of optical candidates. With the onset of Advanced
LIGO/Virgo’s third observing run, we present results from the first three
SAGUARO searches following the GW events S190408an, S190425z and S190426c,
which serve as a valuable proof-of-concept of SAGUARO. We triggered and
searched 15, 60 and 60 deg$^{2}$ respectively, 17.6, 1.4 and 41.8 hrs after the
initial GW alerts. We covered 7.8, 3.0 and 5.1% of the total probability
within the GW event localizations, reaching 3$sigma$ limits of 19.8, 21.3 and
20.8 AB mag, respectively. Although no viable counterparts associated with
these events were found, we recovered 6 known transients and ruled out 5
potential candidates. We also present Large Binocular Telescope spectroscopy of
PS19eq/SN2019ebq, a promising kilonova candidate that was later determined to
be a supernova. With the ability to tile large areas and conduct detailed
follow-up, SAGUARO represents a significant addition to GW counterpart
searches.

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